


Pure Intentions

by Kasen



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, First Meetings, M/M, Platonic Relationships, TA Shiro
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-26
Updated: 2018-12-26
Packaged: 2019-09-27 15:50:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17164826
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kasen/pseuds/Kasen
Summary: Keith doesn't know what to expect when he walks into his Ecotoxicology lab ten minutes late and is greeted by a strict TA with a heart of gold.





	Pure Intentions

Keith has no goals. He went into the sciences because he was decent at them and the world promised him a successful career if he could get through university with semi-decent grades. It stressed him out sometimes, seeing the students around him with goals and dreams who were constantly working diligently towards them, motivated and driven. Keith eventually learned how to staunch that anxiety with apathy. While his classmates considered which classes they needed in order to jump-start their careers, Keith was trying to figure out which were the easiest to pass. Why take Organic Chemistry II when you knew you were bad at mechanisms? Why bother trying to memorize the intricate details of glycolysis in your Advanced Molecular Biology class and suffer through a semester of intensive lectures, tests, and labs, only to cry about your shitty grade when the semester was over? It wasn’t worth it. Keith has no goals, and foolishly thinks it’s an advantage. He takes bird courses with the intention of getting good grades with minimum effort. 

Until he meets Shiro.

It’s a new semester and Keith walks into his Ecotoxicology lab a little later than he expected to. He knew he technically could have made it if he left earlier, and sure, grabbing the coffee warming his hand was probably dumb since he _saw_ how long the line was, but damnit he needed his caffeine if he wanted to get through the rest of the day! 

“I’m guessing you’re Keith?”

Keith turns to who he suspects is his TA, and almost lets his cup slip through his hands as he gawks at the other.

_Holy shit._ Whoever this guy was, he was in the wrong line of work. His TA was tall and broad. His chest stretched his buttoned lab coat, revealing a simple black shirt beneath. His hair was all black, with the exception of his long fringe resting handsomely over his forehead, soft white locks barely hiding his thick brows. The rest of his hair was short-cropped, indicating to Keith that he had an undercut at some point and only recently decided to let it grow out. It looked good. Keith would have spent more time appreciating his TA’s hair had it not been for his face.

His _face._

_God,_ he was handsome. His TA had dark brown eyes with lashes so impossibly long that they cast a shadow over his sharp cheekbones. He had a strong jawline, a sharp nose, and his lips looked plump and _extremely_ kissable. His skin was smooth, free of hairs and blemishes, with the exception of a long scar that stretched below his eyes, right across the bridge of his nose.

This guy should have been a model or an actor. Keith already took a mental note to save any lab work he signed off with his name, knowing it could go for thousands online.

“Keith, right?” his TA repeats with a raised brow.

“Yessir —I mean yeah. Yes. That’s me.”

Some snickering in the lab catches Keith’s attention, and he shoots Lance and Hunk a glare. 

“Why don’t you take a seat Keith, I was just going over the safety procedures in case of an accident.”

Keith begins walking towards a stool when the TA stops him again.

“We don’t allow drinks in the lab.”

“Aww, c’mon. It’s just the first day. We aren’t even...”

Keith’s voice dies in his throat at the look his TA gives him. This guy might have been handsome, but he wasn’t fucking around. Keith turns back and places his coffee on the spare desk placed outside the lab for this very reason. Squeezing it between a large protein shake and an Iced Capp, Keith observes his coffee with a sad sigh and heads back into the lab, wondering just how strict Mr. Sexy TA was going to be with his marking.

 ***

Shiro is harsh. Keith learns this the hard way when his first lab report is returned to him with a very low grade and a frowny face drawn beside the number. Not a single thing escaped their TA, and Keith almost regrets taking the class. 

_Almost._

Shiro was a hard marker and very particular with lab techniques, but he meant well. His passion was a little contagious; even Keith could admit as much. Plus, he was incredibly attractive and sweet. Keith appreciated how dorky Shiro could be when he was comfortable in his surroundings.

“Alright everyone, today we will be looking at the heart rate of a water flea commonly known as _Daphnia_ in the first half of our lab. It’s the perfect study organism for testing the quality of water. They’re tiny things, but still visible to the naked eye, and transparent under the microscope. As you _presumably_ read in the lab manual for today’s exercise, we will...”

Shiro continued speaking, and Keith pretended to look guilty when the other cast him a knowing grin while saying the word presumably. 

“I think he likes you,” Pidge whispers after a moment. Keith kicks Hunk’s lab partner’s ankle. _Hard._ Pidge can take it. They had only just met in this class, but a few labs in and the two had kicked it off surprisingly well. Keith’s only regret was not stealing Pidge for himself at the beginning of the semester. Being lab partners with Lance sucked. 

“Ow,” she hisses while scowling at him. “All I’m saying is that he’s definitely flirting.”

“Okay, enough.” Keith wouldn’t know what he’d do with that information if it was true, so he pretended it wasn’t.

“Yeah seriously. I don’t want to imagine Keith’s skinny ass trying make a move on Shiro,” Lance hisses in distaste.

_“My_ skinny ass? Have taken a look at yourself Mr. Noodle?”

_“_ _Pffft_ _,_ Mr. Noodle,” Hunk snickers.

“Keith!” Shiro calls out.

Keith and his group of friends jump in unison. “Table 1, please pay attention. This report is worth 30% of your final grade in the lab component of this course.”

“Sorry Shiro,” Keith murmurs shamefully, his friends chiming in as well. Keith risks a single glare at Lance before ignoring his lab partner entirely. He follows along with Shiro’s instructions easily, and before he knows it, everyone is moving to get started on their experiments. 

“Remember guys, fill your beakers at least half way with water from the tank first. If you notice any Daphnia in the water, you can take it back to your stations and get started. Otherwise, use the droppers. If you need help, let me know.”

“You should pretend you’re having trouble catching the Daphnia.” Pidge nudges Keith’s hip while hovering next to him at the back of the line.

“And look dumb? Hell no.”

“C’mon man,” Hunk chimes in from the other side. “How are you supposed to flirt with him if you don’t screw up your lab a bit?”

“I’m not tryna flirt with him,” Keith hisses harshly. “And I’m not going to look dumb in front of Shiro as an excuse to talk to him.”

“Not intentionally, at least.”

Keith would kick Pidge again if it wasn’t for Shiro standing near the tank they were closing in on. Keith lets Pidge go first, paying mind not to look Shiro in the eyes. All this talk of flirting was starting to make him feel hyperaware of the other; even more so than usual. Pidge, of course, is able to scoop up her Daphnia without issue. Hunk doesn’t need to fill his beaker given than Pidge has plenty of specimens to share. Lance goes next, and he too nabs a few, unfortunately Shiro tells him he needs more specimen, and both turn to look at Keith. Keith scoops his beaker in the tank, and according to Shiro, comes out with nothing. He tries again with no luck, and Shiro ends up rolling up his sleeve and using the dropper to catch a few Daphnia for the pair. 

“Sorry,” Keith croaks as he eyes a prominent vein protruding from Shiro’s thick forearm. 

“Don’t apologize,” Shiro smiles as he holds up Keith’s beaker in the light of the window behind them, giving both a better few of the tiny water fleas swimming in the borrowed tank water. “They can be elusive.”

“Right,” Keith says as he accepts his beaker and tries not to think about his fingers brushing Shiro’s wet ones. 

“Let me know if you need help setting up your slides,” Shiro offers softly.

Keith merely nods and stiffly heads back to the lab bench, heart hammering against his ribs. 

“Not a word,” is all he grumbles to his friends before fumbling with his microscope and adjusting the light. This three-hour lab couldn’t end soon enough.

***

“Remember everyone. The Daphnia should be returned to the tank after you’ve completed your observations. Show me your sketches before you pack up for the day, and make sure you put down the magnification you used for each drawing, _Lance."_

“It was _one_ time,” Lance wines in contempt. Everyone knows Shiro is teasing him, and all snicker despite their eyes focused on their work. Shiro had that kind of effect on people. Keith had never observed a lab where his classmates were serious _and_ enjoying themselves. It was nice. Even he cracked a smile while peering through his lens, contently sketching his last Daphnia of the day, labelling the brood chamber and counting the visible eggs.

“Don’t go laughing at me too,” Lance grumbles. 

“Dude, you wrote “blue” instead of the magnification.”

“It was an honest mistake.”

“The lens you used was the yellow one,” Keith laughs. “You fucked up twice as bad.”

“Listen!” Lance gestures. Just then, Lance’s sleeve catches on the beaker sitting between them, and the contents spill out of the glass. 

“Shit!” Keith yells. He corrects the beaker but the damage was done. Whatever Daphnia were in the water had poured out.

“What happened?” Shiro asked immediately as he approached the two. “Did anything break?”

“Fuck, sorry Shiro. My sleeve knocked down the beaker,” Lance explains. “It’s not broken,” he adds after observing the glass.

Shiro nods and reaches over Keith’s shoulder, surprising him into jolting away. 

“Sorry,” Shiro whispers. He shows Keith the plastic dropper he had reached for, and begins searching the wet desk for stray Daphnia.

“You’re going to pick them out one by one?” Keith asks, astonished. They were difficult enough to see in the same place. Water had stretched over the bench and had even started spilling over the edge of the table, which Shiro was now blocking with his sleeve, uncaring that he was soaking his lab coat.

“Yup,” was all Shiro said. Lance and Keith shot each other a concerned glance. 

“Shiro... they’re pretty small and you know... a bunch have died in this lab already. They’re just bugs.”

Shiro never paused his work as he spoke. “Just because they’re simple organisms, and though they might not _suffer_ in the same way we do, they still deserve respect.”

Keith felt the hairs on his arms rise at the statement. Shiro was...

He was an angel. 

Keith took back his initial thoughts when he first laid eyes on his TA. Shiro was definitely in the right line of work.

Keith and Lance grabbed two extra plastic droppers and wordlessly helped Shiro spot and pick out the small Daphnia jumping through the water spilled over the bench. Shiro told the class who had finished their work to come to him, and he nodded in approval or asked for revisions before dismissing each individual student; not once stepping away from saving the spilt water fleas.

By the time Shiro was satisfied that they saved the last one of “ _thirty one_ , _apparently_ _”_ , Keith and Lance were the last two remaining in the class.

“Well then,” Shiro says with a satisfied huff. “I’ll wipe down the bench if you two need to get headed to your next class.”

“I don’t have class,” Keith admits. “I’ll help clean up.”

“I do,” Lance sighs. “Sorry. I would stay back and help too.”

Shiro shakes his head. “Let me see your lab sheet before you go.”

Keith drops some water onto his slide, keeping the Daphnia he was observing alive, while Shiro checks off Lance’s worksheet and grants him permission to leave.

“Guess that leaves you,” Shiro smiles. Keith suddenly feels very self-conscious. 

“Shiro, if you have another class to teach...”

“I’m done for the day,” he promises. Keith watches, mouth agape, as the other suddenly starts unbuttoning his lab coat. Keith has to remind himself that Shiro isn’t actually naked under there like his daydreams have depicted for him several times in the past, and swallows hard at the sight of Shiro’s muscles.

Wow, _fuck._ Shiro was beefy. Keith never expected such hard muscle beneath his loose lab coat. His biceps bulged over the sleeve of his t-shirt, and the fabric hugged his broad chest and small waist in a way that almost seemed sinful. Keith swallowed hard and turned away, busying himself with finishing his sketch so he could clean up the mess Lance made and make his hasty escape.

“Hey Keith, can I ask you something?”

“Uh, sure,” Keith squawks.  

“Do you need help with your classes? Or maybe a good word in with one of the profs for a volunteer opportunity?”

Keith pulls away from his microscope to look at Shiro. His TA is draping his wet lab coat over a stool, expression that of concern.

“What?”

“Do you need help with anything school-related?” Shiro elaborates. 

“Wh— Are my marks that bad that you’re this concerned?” Keith tries to joke. The laugh doesn’t reach Shiro.

“Listen. I know I have no right mentioning this, but I was talking to some of the other TA’s and...” Shiro trails off while scratching the back of his head. Keith feels something churn in the pit of his stomach. Shiro was talking about him, but not in a good way. “Your marks are fine, don’t get me wrong. It’s just that some mentioned how you seemed... uninterested.”

Lazy and dismissive were the better terms. But Shiro was a good person and filtered what his other TA’s probably said about him.

“If there’s something I can help you with Keith... just say the word.”

“I don’t...” Keith swallows the lump in his throat, touched by Shiro’s generosity. “I’m doing fine, thank you though.”

“Are you sure? What career path are you perusing? Or maybe you’re aiming for grad school after? I can help you figure out which professor might be able to help you the most, and maybe even talk to them for you.”

“I don’t have one,” Keith admits. When Shiro doesn’t say anything, Keith returns to his microscope. He’s done with his lab report. Switching off the power, Keith removes his slide and safely returns the Daphnia he was observing back in the beaker. 

“What don’t you have?” Shiro inquires after a moment. Keith exhales through his nose while pouring his beaker back into the tank and taking the glass to the wash station.

“A career path. A goal...” Keith puts his beaker away and sprays the bleach bottle over the table, wiping the water Lance spilled earlier.

“Keith... I’m sure there’s something you’re interested in.”

“Nope. I have no idea what I’m going to do once I graduate,” he unplugs the microscope and wraps the cable around the base hastily, ready to run away from Shiro. He doesn’t notice Shiro approaching him until there is a hand on his shoulder.

“Don’t panic. We can discuss it Keith. We can figure it out.”

“Why...” Keith takes a deep breath and tries again, turning to face Shiro as he speaks. “Why are you helping me?”

“What? I’m not allowed to care about my students?”

Keith gives him a look, and Shiro’s goofy grin turns into a more sincere smile. 

“I want to help because I was in your shoes not too long ago. I bring it up because I see myself in you.”

Keith tries not to imagine what it would feel like if he leaned up to press his lips against Shiro’s, and then reprimands himself for having the attention span of a hamster.

“What do you want to be?” Keith asks instead. He doesn’t want to talk about himself and his blind race to a finish line he can’t see.

“A marine biologist.”

Keith smiles at Shiro, something similar to pride swelling within him. Of course. “I’m not surprised.”

“Is it easy to tell?” Shiro laughs

Keith nods. 

“I love it, Keith. I’m going to tell you something I’ve never told anyone else before. Promise you won’t tell a soul.”

Keith nods again, and only then does Shiro seem to notice that he was still holding onto Keith. He lets go a little hastily, arm now rigidly against his side.

“I went through a pretty bad breakup in my first year here during undergrad,” Shiro continues, choosing instead to lean against the lab bench and cross his arms. “I was in the sciences but I had no idea what I wanted to do. A doctor, maybe. Something that could make me money. But then my ex and I get into an argument and it didn’t end well. It really got to me, Keith. Enough that I failed too many classes. I set myself back by a year.”

“Woah,” Keith says. “I never saw you as the type to fail.”

“It was bad,” Shiro admitted with a wry smile. “You know what got me out of my funk?”

“What?”

“Penguin documentaries.”

Shiro’s dopey grin is contagious, and Keith finds himself smiling as well.

“Is that it?” Keith asks. “You want to be a marine biologist to work with penguins? All because of some nature docs.”

“Yup.”

“That seems...”

“Shallow?”

“I was just going to say ridiculously sweet.”

“Well, it’s ridiculous, that’s for sure. But it helped me stay focused. I want to help you find your driving factor too.”

“I think... I think I might know what it is,” Keith admits. His cheeks feel warm as he considers his next few words carefully.

“Really?”

“But I’m not sharing.”

“What? Why?”

“It’s shallow.”

“Keith...”

But it was the truth. Keith would build up the courage to confess to Shiro eventually, but for now, he was more than content acknowledging that he liked Shiro, and would pursue whatever he needed to in order to stay close to the other. Working with some penguins didn’t seem like a bad career choice.

**Author's Note:**

> ROBIN MERRY CHRISTMAS!!  
> I always wanted to thank you for your beautiful penguin AU, so I figured I'd give you a lil fic u-u  
> I always look forward to your updates and I'm forever grateful about your cute art, knowledge, and your attention to detail.  
> Love you lots! ♥♥♥
> 
> (For my readers, please check out penguin sheith au if you haven't already! [@birdmanbirdplan](https://twitter.com/birdmanbirdplan/status/1050627181150265346))


End file.
